Unit 5a Late Bull Rifle

My wife has drawn a tag for a late rifle hunt in AZ Unit 5a. I posted a question months ago and had great response. I thought I would add another, since situations have changed. We had a burn in 5a that took much of the area that we had looked at and been recommended to, out.
We were unable to get into the area for basic scouting until late summer due to fires, and just getting the lay of the land was a learning process. We have been scouting every chance we get now, although the season is still almost 4 weeks away.
How far from burns should we stay to find elk? We have seen a few cows, and a couple of nice bulls, but they were on the run as if chased. Some seemed to come right out of the burns themselves. The weather seems to be trending to warmer, so we don't think we will be looking at snow, so we are assuming the bulls will stay higher.
We have Flatline maps and also have them on apps on phone.
I know the adage of find the deepest darkest spots and look there, but we have and have seen nothing.
Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated. My wife has honed her rifle skills and I have been diligent on fitness to take her bull out, no matter where it falls.
Thank you for any responses, whether in the forum or in PM.

FWII,
The following is my opinion and my opinion only.
Just yesterday I was looking through big buck and big bull picks on several sites. A lot of them were spring velvet picks but many were not. I was seeing ALOT of burned stumps and downed logs in the pics. So went back through my mental archive and my hard drive and I see the same results. Lots of big animals living in burns. Now, maybe all of these burns are at least a year old, maybe not, I do not know.
I guess I’m saying this, “you did a lot of research on the area, don’t discount it until you see evidence otherwise “. By your own admission it looks like some of the elk are coming out of the burns. Maybe, go with what you know?
That advice won’t get you a cup of coffe but it might land you a decent bull��

I have to imagine with all the moisture we've gotten this late summer and fall there would be some pretty good green up going on in there. I would stick to the burn if it were me.

Hunt the burn!Elk love it!If theres no snow Elk will be as high as they can get.Cows come down first while bulls will stay up top as long as theres graze.Good luck.Like I stated in your last post,your wife drew a great area.
P.S. The tan hide of the Elk stands out in bright contrast to the dark surrounding of the burn.

Thank you all for your help. Excited to see Elk lately in our patch. Looking forward to posting a positive outcome.